Do You Believe in Magic?
by Viewing Pleasure
Summary: The North Belkan squadron's accounts of the Osea and Yuktobanian war...what a horrible war...and for what?
1. 665th Air Squadron

Note: This is my first attempt at an Ace Combat 5 fanfiction, not to mention my first Ace Combat fanfic period, so try to go easy on me and at least read the first and second chapters before deciding you hate it. I use a lot of ranks in this story, so I'll try to explain the order of them below, adding more as I go along. Also, when you see these ( ) the name within them is the person narrating the story at the moment. Enjoy!

Highest to Lowest in Ranking

Base Commander (Manual Promotion by higher-ups, mission numbers don't count)

Second Lieutenant (40 missions flown to become one)

Chief Master Sergeant (36 missions flown to become one)

Senior Master Sergeant (31 missions flown to become one)

* * *

Do You Believe in Magic?

By: Viewing Pleasure

Chapter 1: 665th Air Squadron

(Second Lieutenant Jean)

We were to originally be sent on a routine mission to patrol the ocean dividing our Osea and Yuktobania, but there was a problem somewhere else that needed our attention much more. Yuktobania had recently declared war upon us, but all that mattered was that we were up in the air with our F-14s again.

This is Second Lieutenant Jean Arian (Air-ee-n), captain of the 665th Air Squadron, also known as Black Magic squadron. Like the rest of my squadron, I'm not really skinny, but I wouldn't be considered fat either. My hair is charcoal colored and my eye's are hazel. My codename in the air is Flame.

My right wingman is Second Lieutenant Harper Laskowitz (Loss-koh-vits). He can be a little flaky sometimes, but other than that he's okay; he's never let me down before. We became close friends when we both joined the Osean Air Force together, and we were trained and stationed in North Belka Air Base, along with the rest of our flight crew. He's secretly a pilot from Yuktobania, but if you tell anyone that I'll have to kill you. His hair is naturally brown, but he has dyed parts of it orange; his eyes of a greenish hue. His codename while we survey the skies is Blizzard.

Flying beside my left wing is Chief Master Sergeant Caron Mardo (Kuh-rone Mar-dough), he hadn't been on as many missions as Harper and I had, but he was still a damn good pilot and I was glad to have him on my team. I had gotten to know him little by little, but he was a fairly reserved pilot, keeping mostly to himself and talking over the radio channels only when he felt like it or was commanded to respond by protocol. His hair was black, similar to mine, but it was a little lighter, sort of like a graphite color; now his eyes were a medium purple. He would have it no other way than with us calling him Terrain up high above the ground he was codenamed for below.

Now we come to the last pilot, who takes up the trail position in our quaint little squadron, Senior Master Sergeant Guile Willard (Guy-l Will-erd). He was the one who'd flown the least missions among us, but yet another perfect asset to the group. Guile spends most of his time playing pool when we're on the base, thinking it will perfect his hand-eye coordination in the air. Joking over the radio channels to the rest of us often, Guile was usually annoyed with Caron. Because Caron never talks Guile is always chiding him over it, not a good thing for two reasons: one, it can interrupt others in a dogfight, and two, Caron outranked him. Enough of that, now whenever the pool table isn't available, he spends his time listening to gossip on the base or reading a book. His hair was a color resembling the sun, and his eyes were dark blue. His codename…Tornado, for the deadly destruction from the skies he was named for.

At first it had been only me and Laskowitz, but the other two eventually joined us. The mission we were on now was the first with our new ranks.

"Hey, Flame, what're we supposed to doing, I kind of dozed off during the briefing?" Tornado asked over the channel open to everyone, including the base.

"Don't forget, you're supposed to call him captain." Blizzard interrupted as he did a barrel roll for fun, me afraid that he would screw up and fly into me.

"But isn't he ranked Second Lieutenant?" Tornado curiously questioned while making sure he was in formation.

Blizzard began to explain but I interrupted him as I got an alert from the base, "Well, yes, but…"

"Enough! Everyone listen in, we're getting an incoming call from the base!" I shouted as I flipped a switch to allow the base access to our channel.

My crew instantly went silent as a familiar voice cleared its throat before saying, "Black Magic Squadron, this is Base Commander Harris Layda (Lay-duh), is everything alright?"

I rolled my eyes, assured that they'd heard the chitchat from my crew, and replied, "This is Flame, no problems on our side, just a little talk about ranks. Would you please brief us again on the mission details?"

Base Commander Layda didn't appreciate it, but he complied anyway, "Alright, but listen in this time. In about ten clicks, you're to head for St. Hewlett Naval Port where the flagship carrier Kestrel commandeered by Captain Andersen is being fired upon by Yuke pilots while trying to lead the Osean 3rd Fleet out of the port. There are some of our Osean jet fighters trying to protect the carrier Kestrel, but they won't hold out for long; get up there as quickly as you can. North Belka Air Base out!"

I flipped the switch, closing the base from talking again, and called to my team, "You hear that, guys? Those are our orders, now let's deliver! Stay close and in formation until we reach the mission point."

Obviously trying to mock me, Tornado shouted, "Yes, sir, Flame, sir!"

While I sighed at his audacity, Terrain commanded him while somehow still continuing to fly perfectly straight, "Cut the chatter, Tornado, or else I'll talk to the base commander about demotion."

As Tornado was about to begin an argument with him, I again had to end the fight before it started, "Alright, that's enough! This is my first mission as Second Lieutenant and I don't need you to ruin it! All of you commence radio silence until we reach the target, Flame out…" To my great pleasure, they all did as they were told without complaint.

After a short while, we were getting nearer to St. Hewlett Naval Port, and the sound of aircraft fire could be heard. Ending the radio silence, I said to my team, "We're there guys, but don't split up until you spot the Kestrel."

* * *

End-note: I'm sorry for the boring beginning where all Jean did was explain the characters, but it was a very big necessity. In the next chapter I plan to get some dogfight action into the story, plus the arrival of…dun, dun, dun…you'll find out if you keep reading! Please R&R, I really enjoy getting feedback, positive or negative, on the stories I write. I've actually got Chapter 2 done already, but I'm going to wait a week or two to post it so you'll be able to enjoy the first chapter more, just keep checking back for the next chapter. 


	2. The Demons of Razgriz Appear

Note: I hope to have Black Magic doing some aerial combat in this chapter, so read ahead for some excitement. I don't particularly know what I'm going to do for the big plot yet, but I'll have to keep working on it. In the ranking, I will include ones mentioned in previous chapters, but there will be no descriptions next to them. Happy Reading!

Highest to Lowest in Ranking

Base Commander

Captain (Leader of an air squadron, 50 missions flown to become one.) ((This refers to the air ranking; it has a different meaning in the Navy.))

Second Lieutenant

Chief Master Sergeant

Senior Master Sergeant

Cadet (3 missions flown to become one)

Recruit (1 mission flown to become one)

((Guile Willard, or Tornado, refers to them as Nuggets in this chapter, but I just want to be sure you know exactly what Nuggets are before reading. Cadets and Recruits are nearly the lowest on the ranking ladder, Civilian ranking being the lowest.))

Chapter 2: The Demons of Razgriz Appear

(Second Lieutenant Jean, a.k.a. Flame)

We continued towards St. Hewlett Naval Port where the carrier Kestrel was being attacked by Yuke fighters. As we approached closer, I hailed the Kestrel, "This is Flame, captain of the Black Magic squadron, what's your situation flagship carrier Kestrel, over?"

It took a few moments before I finally got a reply, "This is Captain Andersen, leader of the Kestrel, we're being attacked and we humbly request that you hold off Yuke fighters while we attempt to break through the naval blockade and lead the Osean 3rd Fleet to safety. I repeat, we humbly request that you hold off Yuke fighters while we attempt to break through the naval blockade, over."

While making sure my team was still with me, I called back to the Kestrel, "We copy; we're coming to your rescue as we speak, Second Lieutenant Arian out." I spoke to my crew as we finally reached the port, the Kestrel down below as it attempts to escape, "Alright, this is what separates the men from the boys, disperse and engage enemies at will!"

As protocol directed, each of the team was forced to shout a single line.

First, Blizzard called to me over the radio, "Blizzard, engaging!"

Then, Terrain said in as serious a tone as humanly possible, "Terrain, engaging!"

Tornado was next in line, "Tornado, engaging!"

After everyone was finished, I was the last one to yell, "Flame, engaging!"

Each of us chose a different target to chase, and it seemed to be going well for awhile until enemy reinforcements began to arrive.

Suddenly, over the radio, I caught a female voice explaining, "Negative. You take the lead, Blaze. I'll fly on your wing." Then after a few moments she replied to something that I couldn't hear, "No, Blaze is leading, I'll protect his 6 o' clock. And I'm not gonna lose another flight lead."

Then a deep male's voice interrupted her, "Quit screwing around! This is war! The enemy's all over and they're gonna eat you alive!"

Another male's voice, though carefree this time, explained in a mocking voice, "Ahhh…I'd better stick to the trail position, thanks."

The same deep male's voice ignored it and spoke, "This is Captain Snow, callsign Swordsman. Engaging next enemy formation."

These were fighter pilots, and I dearly hoped they were on our side. Over the radio Tornado cheered, "Yeehaw! Finally we've got someone helping out!"

Disregarding his loud comment, I radioed the lead plane of the fellow squadron, "This is the captain of Black Magic Squadron, Second Lieutenant Arian speaking, callsign Flame, might we ask for your help?"

The female from before replied with pride, "We'd be happy to oblige, Flame."

After she was finished, the cheerful male from before shouted, "Let the rest of your squadron know that if they need any help, the Sand Island pilots are here!"

A smile came to my face as I dodged a missile from an enemy fighter, asking politely, "The Sand Island detachment? May I please have your ranks, names, and callsigns?"

There was radio silence for a few moments before the flight lead piped up, "This is Captain Blaze, flight lead for Wardog Squadron, my real name is unimportant."

Then the female came in quick precession, "First Lieutenant Kei Nagase, callsign Edge!"

Afterwards, the carefree male answered, "First Lieutenant Davenport, I won't answer to anything but Chopper." This was great I thought sarcastically to myself, they all outranked me and my crew.

As I made my way over to the Wardog squadron, I graciously complimented them, "It's great to have you guys with us, I was a little worried we'd be the only ones here…" My eyes landed on an enemy bomber going for a run over the Kestrel, so I cussed as I made my way down towards him, "Damn it!"

As I neared closer, I repeatedly spoke to myself, "Come on, come on, come on…get within missile range…"

Out of nowhere, Edge called to me over the radio, causing my head to turn quickly in the direction she specified, "Flame, enemy on your 6 o' clock! Missile, evade!" The missile she was speaking of was chasing me no matter what I did to get away. I tried all the fancy moves I could muster, but it continued to stay right on my tail.

Over the radio, Blizzard explained, "Tornado and I are here are to help, sir!"

They tried to fire upon the missile, their bullets nearly hitting my jet, and I quickly yelled, "I said spread out and attack the enemy at will, not to cover my tail! If that missile hits and I get shot down, fine, these damn jets aren't as important as the Kestrel!"

Though they were a little reluctant to do so, both Tornado and Blizzard backed off and began fighting the enemy again.

It was great that they'd tried to help me, but they'd almost made things worse. Luckily I had a single missile diverter installed onto my F-14 a few missions back, so I pushed the special button and a flare led the missile safely away from me.

The Sand Island pilot named Chopper fired at an enemy plane behind me while yelling, "Pay attention! You're supposed to be the flight lead in you squadron, right! Not only were you almost shot down, but one of your guys is being chased by at least five Yuke planes at 8 o' clock low!"

He was right, but in the air there was no time for apologies. I instantly changed my flight path and turned for Terrain, the plane Chopper had indicated to me. Terrain had his hands full, that was for sure, so I commanded to my two other pilots Blizzard and Tornado, "Blizzard, you continue to protect the carrier Kestrel! Tornado, you come with me!"

Over the radio they both replied, "Aye, aye, sir!"

Terrain was in big trouble, I watched as nearly all five enemy planes got missile locks on him and fired. Under my breath I cursed, "Shit…" The only thing I hadn't done was order installation of missile diverters to the rest of my squadron…he was as good as dead if he didn't move just right.

I looked to my right as Tornado joined me on our way to rescue Terrain, and he spoke in awe, "I can't believe it…after all I said to that guy…I hope he makes…"

I interrupted him proudly before he could go further, "He **_is_** going to make it! If he gets shot down, I'll resign as flight lead!" This was more important than anything else at the moment; I wasn't going to give up on my crew.

Unfortunately for us, Tornado had to break away as more enemies began to chase him through the air, "Sorry, Flame, they're just too much! You keep at it!"

The only luck we'd seemed to have was the fact that Terrain had somehow dodged all the missiles. I arrived in time to shoot down two of the planes chasing him, but the remaining three suddenly changed their course for the Kestrel. Neither I nor Terrain would be able to chase them to do any good, so I warned Blizzard, "You've got three incoming Yuke fighters headed for the Kestrel, make sure none of them get through! Terrain and I will attempt to catch up to them and shoot em down, but I can't make any promises!" I watched as Terrain followed me back towards the Kestrel, still not saying a word to anyone.

That was when I suddenly remembered, "Squad! I almost forgot the Sand Island detachment known as Wardog Squadron is here along with another fighter known as Captain Snow! If you need help, don't hesitate to call on them, however I would prefer it if we could manage on our own!"

There was no reply over the radio, but I knew everyone was busy with their own troubles. Terrain and I finally managed to tail the three fighters heading for the Kestrel, and as we tried to shoot them down I called to the Kestrel, "Flagship carrier Kestrel, could you give us a sitrep?"

I narrowly evaded debris from a Yuke plane both Terrain and I managed to down as I listened to the Kestrel's reply, "This is Captain Andersen again, we're holding up so far, but it seems the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet is going crazy down here, they keep calling for help. If it's not a problem, could you clear some of the naval blockade below?"

Rubbing my neck tiredly, I explained to Terrain, "I'm going to start clearing out the enemy ships below, Terrain; you continue to help keep control of the airspace." I made my way downwards towards a row of enemy boats and flipped a switch to allow me to drop bombs. Even though I attempted to time the bomb release button presses just right, the bombs didn't hit perfectly on the mark, however they still sank a few.

The man with the callsign Swordsman began to help me clear out the rest of the Yuke Naval Fleet, and he addressed me when we were finished, "You did a pretty good job today, I'd recommend you ask for a promotion to Captain."

I ignored his compliments as I watched the Wardog Squadron finish off the last of the Yuke jets in the air, and afterwards a cheer of victory came from one of the boats in the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet, "Yes, we made it thanks to all of the help from the sky! We salute you, pilots of the Osean Air Force!" A grin came to my face; I always enjoyed making someone's day a little easier.

Swordsman flew off back towards the Kestrel and landed upon it with ease, leaving me to go back to my own squadron. Once we'd all finally come together, I called jokingly over the radio, "Blizzard, Tornado, Terrain, how was it today, did you all have fun up in the deep blue sky?"

With his comedic attitude, Tornado added in a rhyming voice, "There was blue above and there was blue below, I just didn't know where the hell to go!"

I smirked at what he'd said before the Sand Island detachment approached, Chopper saying over the radio, "Hey, Black Magic, we should get together for a beer or two sometime when we're off-duty, what are your names, you can add callsigns if you want?"

While shaking my head, though he couldn't see it, I explained, "That's okay, I'm sure you'll know who we are if you ever come to North Belka Air Base."

The silence was cut instantly as Chopper exclaimed, "You belong to North Belka Air Base!"

Edge didn't waste any time adding, "That's where the three of us were trained before being sent to Sand Island…is that place as peaceful as I remember?"

I was sad to tell her so, but I did anyway, "Sorry to tell you this, but in a war there is no peace. Even though North Belka isn't being attacked, we still feel the repercussions of the war. Recruits and Cadets are being forced to get ready to depart, and most of them don't even have basic training down yet."

"Those Nuggets don't even know which way to pull the stick to go up!" Tornado laughed as he joined in on the conversation.

While taking the time to chide him, I finished talking to Wardog Squadron, "There is nothing funny about that! Anyway, Wardog Squadron, we thank you for joining us in the battle today, we couldn't have gotten as far as we did without your help. Don't forget to warn us if you're ever going to be heading our way."

Chopper was enthusiastic as he replied while he followed his squadron in turning to face the direction of Sand Island, "You can count on it, man! Hah, Blaze and Flame, you couldn't have planned a better coincidence."

We were alone now, and Blizzard tiredly said as he yawned, "Well, I guess we can consider this mission accomplished…"

My tone matched his as I dully retorted, "Except we really didn't accomplish anything…" My eyes wandered to the blue sky above and then to the waters below, watching as the waves rolled over and over down below…were us pilots the only chance Osea had for winning this war?

End-note: Well, how did you all like that! I planned to have the Sand Island detachment appear from the beginning and they'll be making a few more appearances in the story, so don't fear any longer thinking that they'll be gone for good. After all, what Ace Combat 5 story would be great without the Demons of Razgriz? I didn't give any lines to Terrain in this chapter…guess I'll have to give him more next time. Again, R&R, I really want to know what you all think, every opinion matters! I'll be working on the next chapter soon, so keep tuning in!


	3. Foreboding Messages at North Belka Air B...

Note: Well, we've finally arrived to the third chapter. In this chapter there will be minimal to no aerial combat; you'll have to read to find out. I'm just starting to get into the feel of my characters, so bear with me as I continue. I'm still a little lost for what I'm going to do for the big plot, if anyone has some suggestions I'd be happy to read them; I'm not saying I'll use them, but I'll read them, credit will of course be given if I choose to use a plot idea. I'd also like to add that when they're not in the air I'm going to have the characters use their real names, not codenames, try and keep up with me. No new ranks have been added for this chapter, so read on!

Base Commander

Captain

Second Lieutenant

Chief Master Sergeant

Senior Master Sergeant

Cadet

Recruit

* * *

Chapter 3: Foreboding Messages at North Belka Air Base

(Senior Master Sergeant Guile, a.k.a. Tornado)

I glanced over at our flight lead Flame, joking as we arrived at North Belka Air Base, "Hey, Flame, make sure the landing strip isn't too excited to see you!"

Flame didn't reply, but Terrain gave me another of his remarks, "That's enough out of you; the Base Commander will surely hear of this."

"Why you little…" I began before Flame suddenly singled me out on the radio channel, closing off the others.

"What are you doing?" He questioned in a disappointed tone.

I was surprised he was pinning the entire thing on me, "But he's always threatening me, I was only trying to lighten the mood." A sigh came from Flame and he returned the radio channels to open.

Blizzard began to make his landing as he spoke to Flame, "So captain, we go off-duty after we land, what are your plans?"

As Flame watched to make sure Blizzard landed safely, he replied in a very tired voice, "I've got to go over some papers…the Base Commander has been getting on me lately for not filing a report to allow me to keep the missile diverter on my F-14."

I could see Blizzard getting ready to exit his jet, but first he said, "Alright, I guess I'll have to talk to the Nuggets in the hangar about flight patterns by myself then." After getting out of his F-14 and heading into the base, a few technicians cleared it off the runway.

The weather conditions were the same as always, snowing to no end.

Terrain was the next to make for his landing, and as he went down I yelled, "Terrain, great job on the mission today, I didn't think you'd dodge all the missiles!" No reply came from over the radio.

After he was finished landing, I was next to go for it. I checked my speed, direction, altitude, and made sure to lower the landing gear. The base usually directed us on how we were doing, but this time they must've had something else on their hands. It was a little rough when I landed, and the landing gear squealed as I slid across the icy landing strip.

From above Flame shouted to the top of his lungs, "Keep it steady, Tornado! Damn it, where are those technicians!"

Lady luck was with me today, for I got my jet to land without damaging it. I was glad when I could finally hop out of the cockpit and enter the doors into the base, letting the heat blow over me. The fireplace was roaring intensely, and I made my way over to the pool table as I always do. I set the pool balls up and broke them before really beginning to play, using my lucky pool cue.

A few of the Nuggets glanced over at me as I played like they always did, and I didn't mind at all being the center of attention. As I downed the first ball, I listened into an interesting talk being given by one of the Nuggets, "I've heard the guys in the top brass talking, and they say that North Belka Air Base is going to be targeted for a bombing run, and they sounded pretty damn calm about it. For some reason, Base Commander Harris Layda wasn't with them. I was nearly caught, but I managed to get away before being seen. Plus, and this is the strangest part, they didn't want any of this revealed to the Black…"

Suddenly his voice stopped, and when I looked over I couldn't find him. The other Nuggets who'd been listening to him were also cleared from the room, almost as if nothing had happened, but I knew he'd been interrupted by somebody. What was he trying to say? Black…black…black what? It could've just been all hearsay, but I felt it was important enough to report to Arian about.

I left the pool table as it was, and ran off towards the barracks in search of Flame. I finally found him in a room, working on some papers as he'd explained earlier. "Captain, there's something I need to talk to you about!"

He pushed aside his work at the sound of my worried voice, and he questioned, "What's the matter, Guile?"

I made my way over to his bunk, which was clear, and sat down, "Well…I was playing pool next to the fireplace like I usually do after a mission, and there were these Nuggets…" I noticed displeasure on his face for the name I used to describe them, so I changed my words, "Sorry…Cadets and Recruits sitting on the couches next to the fireplace, and I listened to them as I played a game. One of them was giving a speech about how he'd heard the higher-ups saying that this base was being targeted for a bombing run, but they didn't want anyone to know about it; he even said that Base Commander Layda wasn't even there. Now that wouldn't usually concern me so much, but after that he began talking about the higher guys saying that they needed to conceal the information. Just as he said they wanted to keep the information from Black…he was cutoff, I don't know what the rest was." After finishing, I looked Arian in the eyes to see what his expression was.

He sighed while rubbing his eyes, and surprisingly said, "More gossip from you again! From now on I don't want you to tell me this shit; I've got enough on my hands to deal with. The base is investigating Laskowitz's background for some reason, they've been getting on me for letting you chitchat over the radio channels without so much as a "shush" from me, the additions to my F-14 have been frowned on, and they've got suspicions that Mardo has been into some shady business with Yuktobanian government-type characters; I just can't deal with yet another problem!"

Suddenly, air-raid alarms went off all over the base, and after glaring only momentarily at Arian, I stomped off back out towards the hangars.

If he didn't want to believe me, fine, it would be his funeral if something really **_was_** going on…

* * *

Endnote: That about wraps it up for this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I hated writing it laughing. Arian, a.k.a. Flame, may have seemed out-of-character in this chapter, but it was the only person Guile, a.k.a. Tornado, would've gone to with such important information. As you can suspect from the way this one ended, the Black Magic Squadron will be up in the air again next time. Well, I always love getting criticism, so R&R and stay tuned for the next chapter. 


	4. The Snow Will Fall Red

Note: Well, those of you still with me salutes you deserve more praise than the pilots in Black Magic Squadron. There will soon be more conflict in the story, I've just got to decide where and how to have it happen. I'm hoping to use the views of Blizzard and Terrain at least once sometime soon, so for readers interested in those two characters will have to wait. There are no new ranks again, I think I'm only going to be using the ones I've already posted, but if there are new ones I use I will continue to add them to the list. I've given character examples in the ranking section now, so that's a change I've done; also, the "Nuggets" term is referring to the nickname for Cadets and Recruits, that nickname has also been added to the ranking. Enjoy!

Base Commander (ex. Harris Layda)

Captain (ex. Swordsman)

Second Lieutenant (ex. Flame or Blizzard)

Chief Master Sergeant (ex. Terrain)

Senior Master Sergeant (ex. Tornado)

Cadet (a.k.a. Nuggets)

Recruit (a.k.a. Nuggets)

Chapter 4: The Snow Will Fall Red

(Second Lieutenant Jean, a.k.a. Flame)

As the rest of my squadron andI went through take-off checks, I sang a tune my daughter used to hum when I was last with her before joining the Air-force, "And the seas will run red, as the last bullet flies; somewhere far away, a widowed mother cries. It was too late, and in all his pride, the man had sung this song, and now, somewhere across the seas…a widowed mother cries." She'd learned it in school, from who I did not know.

I lowered my head solemnly as my thoughts turned to my beautiful little girl, a child in elementary, but then Blizzard questioned over the radio, "Flame…Flame…is your F-14 all squared away?"

I cleared my head before calling back over the channel, "Everything's a go. How's everyone else? Sound-off…"

The other two, not including Blizzard, took a few moments before they said anything. First was Tornado, he clapped his hands a few times before explaining, "It's all fine over here!" Apparently he'd forgotten the fact that I'd snapped at him not even twenty minutes ago in the barracks.

Terrain took awhile to answer, and I was beginning to get worried. A grumble of displeasure was heard over the radio before Terrain broke the bad news, "I can't fly…in that last flight over St. Hewlett Naval Port, a Yuke jet fired on me and popped one of my gas valves…"

I took away my mask and rubbed my eyes tiredly, collecting myself before finishing, "It'd be too dangerous for you to take-off with us, stay behind on this one. But Tornado and Blizzard, that means I want you to work extra hard, you both got that!"

I could just see Tornado salute before he mocked me, "Yes, **_sir_**, wouldn't want to disappoint you, **_sir_**." Ignoring his rude comment, I awaited Blizzard's reply.

He also had bad news to drop on me, "I'm a no-go, captain. Apparently, I've got a fuel leak in the back; you'll have to go on without me. I didn't realize it until just now."

At that, I popped the top on my jet and shouted to the top of my lungs to the technicians stumbling around, "What the hell were you guys doing! You're the technicians; you're not being paid to screw around! Get off your asses and fix those jets!" It was irrational to yell like that, but I was now without two of my pilots, leaving me with only one other. I closed the canopy on my jet again and put my mask back on, saying to Tornado over the radio, "You take-off first, I'll follow shortly afterward." He didn't reply, but I knew he understood every word I said.

Tornado was soon off into the air, and I trailed behind him a short while later on the runway. Once I too was in the air, I searched the surrounding airspace for any sign of Yuktobanian jets. My sights caught onto one straggling jet, and I made him my first target. His movements lacked quite a lot, and I shouted into the radio before shooting him down, "Flame, engaging!" It was a little late to be saying that, but I figured protocol could be pushed aside momentarily for the problem at hand. Tornado had completely skipped it altogether, immediately heading for Yuke fighters.

He was flying recklessly, so I cautioned him as I shot down the first Yuke jet, "Tornado, careful! You're being sloppy!" Radio silence over the channel…as I was about to call again my eyes caught the sight of Tornado's jet going into a freefall.

Popping the canopy, he ejected and apologized as he floated to the ground in his ejector chair, "Sorry, Flame…it's just you now."

Something wasn't right, his jet hadn't been shot at a single time…I knew, I was watching him the whole time. His jet had been sabotaged; maybe what he'd heard from the Recruits and Cadets had some truth to it.

This was futile now, I was the only pilot up in the air, and as I shot down a few more Yuke jets I sang the rhyme my little girl had sung, "And the seas will run red…as the last bullet flies; somewhere far away…a widowed mother cries. It was too late, and in all his pride…the man had sung this song, and now…somewhere…across the seas…a widowed mother cries."

I continued to sing it, unaware of the open radio channel, and after a few moments Tornado commented, "Morbid song, Flame, sweet, but morbid all the same…I don't mean for you to stop…keep going…I like it…"

Forcing a smile onto my face, I shot down yet another jet before I chose to hum the song instead. Out of nowhere, a missile caught on to the back of my F-14, and I tried my best to dodge it. I hadn't gotten the chance to tell the technicians to refill my missile diverter, so that idea was out this time.

The lock-on was too good; eventually the missile clipped the back of my jet and blew up. As I tried to slow down, I attempted to pop the canopy…it didn't work. While I flew along and got ever closer to the ground, I thought of my daughter's face once more and sang, "And the seas will run red, as the last bullet flies; somewhere far away, a widowed mother cries…"

**Transmission for both Second Lieutenant Jean Arian and Senior Master Sergeant Guile Willard Lost**

**News Report on TV a Few Days Later…**

_"The search for pilots Jean Arian and Guile Willard still continues; Base Commander Harris Layda was baffled by the ordeal. Sources say the F-14s were found in their respective crash-sites, but no sign of the pilots could be found. We can only pray that the remaining two pilots of the Black Magic Squadron can pull together and fight for Osea until the other two are recovered. If you find any information regarding their whereabouts, please contact the nearest Osean military installation immediately. Now in other news…" TV cuts off with a static-like noise_

End-note: Well, yet another chapter for "DYBiM?"…comments anyone? I know it may've been strange, considering I didn't add a lot of information concerning the problems with the F-14s. I tried to take this chapter in a different direction than the others as you can see with the ending. For those of you who miss Blaze, Chopper, and Edge; don't worry, I'm hoping to get them back in soon. I am too praying that both Jean (Flame) and Guile (Tornado) come back safely. It all depends on how my mind tells me to go with this…strange how their lives hang on the balance with only two outcomes: live or die and my mind is the only thing that can save them XD. Well…wait for the next chapter; it should be quite interesting if I do it just right. R&R please!


End file.
